Gradual Change
by Sini
Summary: MeLty It's been over five years since Lindsay joined the team. The team has changed, things in general have changed and continue to do so.


**Disclaimer: **I do not own CSI:NY or any characters associated with the show. I only claim the original characters.

Completely unbeta-read. All the mistakes are mine and mine alone. Please feel free to point them out.

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**Gradual Change**

It had been over five years since Lindsay had joined the New York Police Department. Five didn't seem like a particularly large number, but a lot had changed in those years. Time had a way of morphing everything. She sat down in her chair and spun around slowly, seemingly inspecting the walls of her office, but lost in thought.

Things had indeed changed… Take Stella for example. After having to kill Frankie in self defence all those years ago, she had closed herself off from relationships for quite some time. It was to be expected, it was understandable and something she had needed to do in order to start the healing process. She put up a front almost from the start, not letting people on at how she really felt. Of course the team knew her inner battle was far from over, but they didn't interfere. Well, not much anyway. There were some mandatory questions involved that came with the territory. She was coping well under the circumstances and they respected her choice of actions. Months went by and the old Stella started to take over the trauma inside. Then one day she met, on the job as per usual, a defence lawyer that swept her away. After a year they got married and now resided in Connecticut with their little 2-year-old boy. She had transferred there when opportunity had presented itself and had yet to regret her decision. She still kept in touch, even after years of relocating. Life was good for her now and she had what she had always wanted. Hopefully she had had her share of life's drama and only the good was left.

Lindsay smiled at the card in her hand. It was from Stella and her family and had a picture of Christopher, her son, smiling widely at the camera with happy eyes. Lindsay remembered Stella taking it on his second birthday when she was visiting them. Placing it on her desk, Lindsay sighed deeply.

Sometimes she really missed the old days. Don't misconstrue though, she liked working with the current team, but the atmosphere was different. Obviously, the people were different.

Sheldon was back in the morgue again, but in Las Vegas. After getting shot, he had made a decision to leave the field. Even if that had been what he had wanted a few years ago, Sheldon reasoned that he wanted to outlive his parents and not die young if he could possibly avoid it. While the field was exciting, ME's work was where his heart was at. Apparently he had found a steady girlfriend while in Nevada, a fellow pathologist.

At least Danny was still in New York. He still worked for NYPD, but not in their team anymore. For the past four months he had been undercover. Lindsay didn't know the details, and all Danny had told her was to take care of herself. That was Danny for ya, making sure she would be ok. He was the brother she never had. She missed him immensely, just like the rest of her friends…

Flack was still around, one of the few. He continued to work regularly with the team and as one might expect, got along wonderfully with the new team members.

Ah, the new co-workers… It was odd to think of someone as a new addition. It wasn't long ago that she was the newbie. Brian was the next after her. Another one of Mac's handpicked personnel, his skill to think logically and still be able to make utterly odd connections was mind-boggling. Mac was certain he would evolve into a fine investigator. Maddy was their newest addition and had only been with them for a month. Still in her late twenties, she had her entire life ahead of her. She had been a lab technician for a couple of years in Los Angeles, before coming to New York. Lindsay didn't know her too well yet, but had taken an immediate liking to her. She was witty with determination that could rival that of Mac.

Mac, he was still the head of the CSI department, another one of those rare things that had remained the same. They had been more than colleagues from the beginning. A part of being in the team meant being a friend to the others. Succeeding Stella's departure, after Sheldon had moved on, hell, mostly because Peyton had gone back to England, they had sought each other out as confidants. At first they reasoned it was because everyone needed someone to talk to, someone to keep them sane, but there was more to it than that.

They were akin in mind and values which was the reason they got along exceptionally well. Maddy had pointed out the similarity during her first week. They did work together seamlessly, but no, they did not look into each other's eyes and see the other person's soul or communicate without words. Sometimes it might have seemed like it, but in truth their brains just functioned at the same level and there existed a mutual understanding. That was how the pair's dynamic worked. There was no mystery or hidden romanticism. They were what they were.

Lindsay was drawn out of her thoughts by Flack, who wore a somewhat tired smile, but was rejoicing over the upcoming weekend. It had been a long week and everyone was happy to have the glorious two days off, thankful that Friday had finally arrived.

"Have a good one!" he quipped and tapped the door frame with his hand.

"You too," Lindsay replied with a smile of her own.

Flack nodded and was on his way out in a heart beat.

Lindsay leaned back in the chair, supporting her head on the backrest, her eyes travelling up to the ceiling before closing. She continued reminiscing and musing over various incidents over the years, not really paying attention to how much time passed.

When she opened her eyes the room was dimmer than earlier; the sun must have been setting, but it couldn't have been nightfall quite yet. She squinted and yawned, twirling the chair around only to see Mac standing in the doorway.

"Isn't it time for you to go home?" he asked gently.

"What about you then?" Lindsay queried immediately.

He smiled softly and uncrossed his arms, letting them fall to his sides and taking the few steps needed to reach Lindsay.

"Maddy said the same thing last week when she and Brian decided to go out for drinks. I'm assuming hey asked you too."

"Why didn't you go?"

"It was Wednesday," Mac replied promptly.

Lindsay smiled knowingly, "Jazz night."

"Exactly."

"Some things are worth holding on to…"

"Don't I know it," Mac acknowledged and glanced at the card displayed on Lindsay's desk.

"I know she sent you one as well," Lindsay said.

"Naturally," Mac said, smiling for the second time since entering her office space.

"I know she's happy now, but I really miss her," Lindsay continued, also staring at Christopher's image. "Sometimes I wish I had more to my life than this job."

Mac frowned and grew tense. What was she up to?

"You're not planning on leaving, are you?" he asked, trying to mask the weariness in his voice.

"No," Lindsay assured Mac, noticing his discomfort when it came to the subject. "Quite the opposite actually… I can't see myself leaving."

Mac arched his brow, thoroughly confused and trying to piece together the meaning behind her words..

Lindsay stood up and rounded her desk, giving Mac an affectionate peck on the cheek.

"Goodnight Mac," she said with a small smile and walked on.

Mac looked in the direction of her retrieving form until she disappeared from his view. Every once in a while she did that, kissed his cheek that is. Mac knew he was the only one with whom she shared the kind gesture and he felt privileged, and oddly… warm, for the lack of a better word. He exhaled heavily and walked out of the now lifeless room.

A week went by, business as usual, and Mac was done contemplating. The scientist part of him had been analysing every little bit of information, combining pieces for different results and the marine side was ready to take action and achieve something concrete. He was tired of speculating the endless consequences, when in the end there really were only two with slightly varying results. He had spent seven days telling himself that his gut was rarely, almost never wrong and there was no reason to stop listening to it now of all times. Not finding a logical argument to counter his gut feeling, Mac found himself circling the lab, looking for Lindsay.

Lindsay finished buttoning her wool coat and pulled on her knitted hat, making sure it covered her ears. The air had been wonderfully crisp that day, but the wind had picked up during the afternoon, causing it to become unpleasantly cold. She slammed her locker shut and noticed Mac out of the corner of her eye.

A few minutes later the two were walking down the street, talking about everything and nothing. Over the years they had walked the familiar sidewalks together more times than they could remember. The scenery had changed a little, but the roads were the same. There was something strangely comforting about it.

A block away from Lindsay's apartment, where their roads separated, the pair came to a halt.

"Linds, would you like to go dancing tomorrow night?"

"I'd love to," Lindsay smiled.

"What if we consider it as more than just two friends going?" Mac asked, waiting for Lindsay's reaction.

She continued to smile and wondered what was going through Mac's mind at the moment. Lindsay was happy that he had taken a step forward, a long due step at that. She hadn't been certain she would be the one he would take it with but glad that she was. Both of them had been alone for quite some time.

Lindsay rose on her tiptoes and kissed him softly on the lips.

"That's what I think…" Lindsay whispered, still lingering close. Mac smiled and kissed her back.

"See you tomorrow at seven then," he concluded and watched her nod and walk away.

Maybe he did over-think some issues, this had not been complicated at all – he would have to work on it. Turning to leave Mac noted the still present smile across his features.

Lindsay turned around to see him vanish behind the street corner and grinned happily; there were butterflies in her stomach, the good kind.

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Thanks for reading, make what you want of this. I wasn't planning on making the ending so fluffy, but meh… what are you going to do about it. That's the way it is. I may or may not write another chapter, we'll see. A big thank you to all of you who have reviewed my stories and come back to read the new ones. You guys rock!


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